Champion 2
by White Angel of Auralon
Summary: Harry returns for his second year at Hogwarts, determined to continue his way to the top of the Wizarding World. What about the strange message that Firenze had given him and Hagrid? How to deal with the warnings of that house elf Dobby? Sequel to Champion.
1. School Shopping

**Hello, here is the promised sequel to Champion. For now I'll keep the story under the title Champion 2, but that can change once I think of a better one.**

**As always I don't own anything of the HP universe, I just get to play in JKR's sandbox.**

* * *

**School Shopping**

Harry and Sirius sat at the breakfast table at Potter Manor, enjoying the breakfast Nella, the house elf in charge of the kitchen, had prepared for them. Both had tanned skin and in Harry's eyes, if you looked closer, you could see a content sparkle. Sirius was very happy seeing his godson like this as he had been quite down when he had returned from Hogwarts. No wonder after what he had gone through at the end of the last school year. Having to see one of your teachers brutally slaughtered by a Cerberus wasn't something any eleven year old boy could easily take and get over.

Sirius had organized a four week holiday for him and Harry and both had just returned to England two days prior. Thanks to Sirius working the whole time, including weekends, while Harry had been at school, Amelia Bones had permitted Sirius to take four weeks off from his job. Sirius had taken Harry to a Black property close to the beach in Apollo Bay, Australia. They had visited the Otway National Park which was close by, Sirius had taught Harry surfing and swimming, both had taken a muggle diving course and explored the reefs around Australia, which was very easy after having leased diving equipment in a shop. Sirius could after all, apparate them everywhere they wanted to go to.

Harry had loved seeing kangaroos, koala bears, alligators, wombats and other native Australian animals. They had watched a sunset over Ayer's Rock, visited the big cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle, and of course made a lot of photos. Harry intended to make a whole album with just the photos from the Australia trip. For Harry's birthday in a few days a party at Potter Manor was planned. Harry's friends would arrive by floo which would be opened just for that day.

On all other days the floo only allowed a speaking function. It was one of the security measures that had been placed on the property to grant Harry the best possible protection. The wards around the property were old and really strong ones combined with the best ones the goblins had. The one reason why James and Lily hadn't hidden here when Voldemort was after them was that a property as big as this one couldn't completely be placed under a Fidelius charm and they didn't have the goblin wards at that time. The charm only managed to cover a certain area, like the manor itself, but not the grounds.

Harry, after hearing that reason asked if one charm wasn't enough, why not us more that overlapped each other. Sirius and Dumbledore had been baffled by the idea and were trying to work out if that would be possible. Dumbledore promised that if it was possible he would place the charms over the manor himself.

"You're not stealing Master's letters." They suddenly heard Rollo, one of the male house elves shout.

They looked at each other and stood up to look what this was about. From the door of the dining room they could see Rollo tagging on two letters and an unknown house elf in a dirty pillow case on the other side.

"What is the matter?" Sirius asked sternly.

Both house elves looked at Harry and Sirius.

"He's trying to steal Master Harry's letters, Master Sirius." Rollo said, not letting go of the letters.

"Dobby has to protect Harry Potter; he can't go to Hogwarts this year." Dobby said.

"And you really think stealing my mail would achieve that?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Dobby thought if Harry Potter thought his friends didn't write him he wouldn't want to go back. He mustn't go back. It's too dangerous." Dobby said frantically.

"Why would going to Hogwarts be dangerous for Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Dobby can't say. But Harry Potter mustn't go to Hogwarts." Dobby insisted.

"If you don't tell me why I shouldn't go, I won't listen to you. I have certain things to learn and I don't intend to leave my friends that I finally have on their own if there really is a danger to them." Harry stated.

"So noble, he is thinking more about his friends than himself. But Harry Potter mustn't go back to Hogwarts. He is too good to lose. Dobby will find a way to keep Harry Potter safe." The elf said and popped away.

"Strange guy." Harry said.

"Not stranger than Kreacher. But I'm concerned about this warning. I'll inform Professor Dumbledore and Madam Bones that something will probably happen this year as well. At least this time we have a better warning. Even if I don't know how a house elf could go against his master's orders to not tell about what is going to happen in this way. Rollo, can you and the other house elves make sure that no elf that isn't a Potter elf can get through the wards?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, Master Sirius. We will take care of it and set up house elf wards." Rollo confirmed.

"Thank you, Rollo. I never thought about warding a property against house elves. How many more wouldn't think about it?" Sirius pondered. "We should also tell the goblins. They wouldn't like to know that a house elf that doesn't belong to House Potter could get through without being called."

* * *

Harry and Sirius had arranged to go shopping for Harry's things together with a few of Harry's friends. Terry and Neville would be there as would Hermione with her parents. Neville was glad to do his shopping without his grandmother and Terry's mother was okay with letting Terry get his things without her as long as Sirius was close by in case the kids needed help. They had organized to meet at the Leaky Cauldron at eleven. Harry's birthday had been one week prior and had been a great party. He had invited his friends and the ones he was on friendly terms with. So that came to his classmates from Ravenclaw, Susan and Hannah from the Hufflepuffs, Neville Hermione and Miranda from Gryffindor and Daphne, Blaize, Theodore and Tracy from Slytherin. Sirius had teased Harry that he was inviting more girls than boys.

He had got many happy birthday cards. Harry had the impression nearly all the former first years had sent him one. Some probably to keep appearances for being on friendly terms with him. He was sure that was what Draco Malfoy's card was about. Well, it was what he would do too in their position. He had a planer with all the dates for the birthdays of his friends and friendly acquaintances. He didn't plan on spending a lot of money on presents, just like a token that he thought about them. He had found out about a few traditional things that wizards gave to each other to show that the other was appreciated but no closer friend. For the girls Harry had, with the help of Neville, planted a batch of flowers. Neville said the flowers would tell the girl that got one that she was a cherished friend in case she was knowledgeable in those things of course.

Harry was lucky that none of the girls he planned to gift with such a flower had a birthday coming up before September. The flowers needed to grow first after all.

Now it was five minutes to eleven and Harry and Sirius arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. They looked around and saw Neville sitting at a table.

"Hey Neville." Harry called out. Neville looked up.

"Hi Harry, hello Mr Black. How are you?" Neville asked.

"Good, and you, Neville?" Harry asked.

"Good as well. I'm just glad to be away from home for a while. If I didn't have my greenhouses I would go stir crazy. Gran didn't like that I refused to follow her ideas how I had to be anymore. I have decided that I need to be my own person no matter what she thinks. It's hard and I sometimes fall back into old habits, but it's getting better." Neville said.

"I'm glad to hear that, Neville. I'm sure your parents would be proud of you, no matter what you decide you want to do." Sirius said.

"Thank you, Mr Black." Neville said, giving Sirius a small smile.

The floo activated again and Terry stepped out. Sirius quickly got rid of the ashes on him.

"Hi, guys, great day, isn't it?" Terry asked.

"Hi, Terry, yes it is. How's your family?" Neville asked.

"They're well. My little sister is a bit of a handful at the moment. She just doesn't seem to be able to sit still for five minutes. I think Mum was glad that I could get my things with you as she really is busy keeping an eye on Fionna." Terry said.

"How old is Fionna now?" Harry asked.

"Five. I'm the oldest, then the next one is my brother Alan and then the youngest Fionna. Alan will come to Hogwarts next year. He'll turn ten at the end of August. I wanted to look for a present for him while I'm here." Terry explained.

That moment the door to the Leaky Cauldron opened and Hermione and her parents stepped inside.

"Good morning, everyone." She greeted.

"Good morning Hermione. Good morning, Mr and Mrs Granger. I'm Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and guardian." Sirius introduced himself and shook the Grangers' hands.

"Good morning, nice to meet you, Mr Black. I'm Daniel Granger and this is my wife Emily." Hermione's father introduced himself.

"Mum, Dad, these are Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Terry Boot some of my classmates. Neville is in Gryffindor like me and Harry and Terry are in Ravenclaw." Hermione said.

"Nice to meet you all." Emily Granger said and got similar replies from the boys.

"So, what do you think about the booklist?" Terry asked Harry. The Hogwarts letters had come in yesterday and the amount of books for Defence was a bit strange.

"Except for the Lockhart books it seems pretty normal. It was to be expected that we needed the Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2 now that we are second years. But I wonder who in their right mind puts adventure books as the books for Defence Against the Dark Arts on the list." Harry said.

"Huh, they are adventure books?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Yes. I wouldn't believe too much what is written in those books. If Gilderoy Lockhart is only half as bad a liar as his brother Romanio, he can't be very impressive. My barrister sued that fool to kingdom come for publishing those Harry Potter story books and made people believe they were true and not fiction. That being next to the fact that I never allowed anybody but the goblins to use my name to advertise products." Harry grumbled.

"Oh. But why would anybody put them on our list then?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. But perhaps the new Defence teacher is a fan of the fool; I heard many witches fancied him. The man is good at promoting himself." Terry said. "Dad thinks his books are rubbish."

"That's an understatement. I doubt he did any of the things he is praised for. He was a Slytherin two years below me. He couldn't even perform the easiest spells correctly. He was good at research though. He barely passed his OWLs with just A's in all the practical classes as far as I know. The theoretical ones were okay though. He behaved like a peacock at school. Talking about how he would become famous one day." Sirius informed them.

They went to the back to enter Diagon Alley. They first needed to get some gold from Gringotts. When they passed Flourish and Blott's they saw an announcement that Gilderoy Lockhart would be signing his new book from half past twelve to half past five.

"Damn, I don't have enough money on me to just get our books now. I first need to go to the bank and when we return the ponce will be here." Sirius said whining.

"Too bad. We will just have to keep to the back. They should keep up their normal business despite the book signing." Terry said.

"No need. I can forward the money and you can pay me back later." Harry said and held out his Gringotts Credit Card.

"You have credit cards in the wizarding world too?" Emily asked surprised.

"It's a new product Gringotts brought out around Easter. I am the poster boy for the cards. That's what I meant when I said I only allowed the goblins to use my name for advertising anything. And as it was my idea I get a share of the winnings." Harry explained.

Terry shook his head.

"Only you, Harry. How does this work?" He asked interested.

"You can pay with this card in a shop, from what I was told all the shops in Diagon Alley and the main ones in Hogsmeade agreed to offer payment with the card. For example if you want to buy new robes at Madam Malkin's. You use the card and the amount they cost will be transferred from your vault to Madam Malkin's vault at the end of the month. For adults that costs a fee of three per cent of the price, but no more than five galleons totally per purchase. Two per cent go to the goblins as they are the ones transferring the gold and one per cent to the shop. For students that attend a magical school the fee isn't taken. The purchases are listed in a file for each client and at the end of the month the gold is transferred. That's also why it is called a credit card because you only have to pay the gold at the end of the month. You can't use more gold though than is in your vault." Harry explained.

"And everybody can get such a card?" Neville asked.

"You have to be eleven at least. But otherwise, yes." Harry asked.

"What if anybody stole the card?" Sirius asked.

He hadn't researched Harry's involvement with the goblins in details. He had only made sure that everything was going right and that Harry wasn't in over his head.

"It's keyed to your blood. You bind the card to you with one drop of blood when you get it. I don't know how it really works, that's a secret of the goblins. I only supplied the idea, the system from my studies of Financial Management and my name for promoting it." Harry answered.

"Just how much do you earn with that?" Terry asked.

"I get fifteen per cent of the profit. The other eighty-five per cent stay with the goblins." Harry said.

"That's still very good. One of the better deals I know anybody made with the goblins. Dad said normally nobody gets more than ten percent. And that is if the goblins like you." Terry said.

"I can be very convincing. The key is to respect the goblins and really know what your idea is worth." Harry said.

The others nodded.

"So I guess we should just get the books over with. Let's make our visit to Flourish and Blott's and get away before the crazy housewives come here." Sirius said.

The boys laughed and everybody followed into Flourish and Blott's. They quickly got their books.

"Quite pricey those Lockhart books." Neville commented.

"Indeed. I'm just glad that we don't need more than one set for my family just now." Terry said.

"You're right. For families with more children this will be a real strain on the finances. How would the Weasleys do it?" Neville asked.

"I don't know. But why is one teacher allowed to demand so many expensive books? I mean think about the third years. They also need to get the books for their new electives." Hermione said.

"It shouldn't be that way. For this year we can't do anything anymore. The booklists are out already. I think I should see about that seat the Blacks had on the Board of Governors in the past. This is something they should prevent." Sirius said.

Harry paid for all the books with his card.

"Ah, yes the new credit card system from Gringotts. I didn't think much about it in the beginning, but it really pays off. It also is much safer than keeping so much money here in the shop." The man manning the cash-register said.

He put the card on the reading device and got the confirmation that everything was in order.

"Thanks for the purchase, Mr Potter." He said handing Harry his card back. "If you want to get the books signed, we have Mr Lockhart here later."

"No thanks, I have had enough trouble with one brother; I don't need the other one." Harry said.

He got a puzzled look, but Harry didn't say more about it.

* * *

The rest of the shopping trip was really nice. After they had avoided the publicity event at Flourish and Blott's they went to Gringotts where Sirius and Hermione got their own credit cards. As the system was based on the gold that was in a vault and there was no risk of Hermione falling into debt, Hermione's parents had no problem opening a vault for their daughter. They thought it would be much easier than always exchanging money.

"Is there a possibility for us to transfer money from a muggle bank to our daughter's vault without having to come here? Without her we can't even see the pub." Daniel asked.

"Certainly. We have a muggle dummy branch of Gringotts. You can transfer money from your account to your daughter's account there. It will be exchanged to galleons automatically." The goblin teller informed them. "These are the account number and other data you will need." He handed them a piece of parchment with the necessary information.

"Thank you. We would like to exchange some pounds into galleons as well now." Daniel said.

The transaction was quickly handled. Harry had been greeted with great respect by the goblins, which shocked many others that were getting gold. They had never seen the goblins treat a wizard like that. Harry thought it was funny. While Hermione and her parents took care of their business, the others had been taken down to their vaults to get some money as well. Neville and Terry had to first get the signatures from their parents or guardian to get the credit card. They had been given a pamphlet that explained the functions of the card and the costs with the form to give their parents or guardian. They both intended to get one. After all, as long as they were at school they were for free and they were really handy.

The whole visit took forty-five minutes and Harry also arranged a meeting with Corpnik to discuss new investment plans for in a week's time. Harry got the files for the enterprises Corpnik thought would be good to invest in to study them at home. After leaving Gringotts they saw a huge crowd around Flourish and Blott's and were glad they had dodged that bullet. They went to Madam Malkin's to get new robes, they all had grown out of their old ones and Harry led them to the apothecary that was run by Miss Ranamis.

"So you're buying your ingredients here?" Terry asked impressed with the much more appealing apothecary.

"Yes, Hagrid took me here last year. He overheard Professor Snape talking about always buying his ingredients here as they are of higher quality and still reasonably priced. Miss Ranamis was also the one who informed me about the two books." Harry said while looking at his list of ingredients he needed.

"Hello. Ah, Mr Potter, nice to see you again." Miss Ranamis greeted them.

"Hello, Miss Ranamis. How are you doing?" Harry asked politely.

"I'm doing fine, thank you, Mr Potter. Who are your friends?" She asked.

"These are Hermione Granger, Terry Boot and Neville Longbottom. The adults are my godfather Sirius Black and Hermione's parents Emily and Daniel Granger." Harry introduced them.

"Nice to meet you. I guess you are here to get the second year ingredients kit and replenish a few other things." Miss Ranamis said.

They all nodded.

"Well, let me see." She said and took out a folder with different lists in it. "Ah here we have it."

She took out four boxes with thirty partitions each and waved her wand. From the shelves little bottles, tins and paper-packs came flying towards the counter. She swished her wand and they sorted themselves into the compartments of the boxes.

"Wow, that's a useful trick." Daniel said impressed.

"Yes, I dislike the smell that storing ingredients in the open produces, therefore I have them in specially made smell-absorbing storage drawers. I know exactly where which ingredient is stored, so with a modified summoning charm I can call them all out as the drawers are keyed to my magical signature. The last one is a common packing spell." She informed him. "Are there any other ingredients you want besides the standard list?"

"Yes, I would like to get these ones." Harry said and handed her the list.

She had a look at it and raised an eyebrow.

"Ambitious to try brewing a fourth year potion as a second year. Are you sure you can handle it, Mr Potter?" She asked.

"I think so. I looked up the brewing process and while it requires a high level of precision I'm sure I can handle it." Harry said.

"Alright. But don't get reckless. And before you do anything with the potions let Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey declare it correctly brewed." She advised him.

"I'll do that, Miss Ranamis." Harry promised.

Miss Ranamis took out a smaller box and waved her wand again and ten new containers for ingredients came flying to her. She sorted them into the smaller box and then wrapped everything up for all of them. They all paid for their purchases and left the shop again.

"What potion are you going to brew that is fourth year level, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"The Elixir of Clairvoyance. I want to know if I have the gift of sight. If I don't have it, taking Divination next year will be pointless." Harry informed her.

"Oh, okay, that makes sense." Hermione agreed. "Can I help you? It would be fascinating to brew such an advanced potion and to know if I have that gift." She asked.

"Sure. Though I doubt you have it as a muggleborn. It's one of the hereditary gifts and there really, really aren't many muggleborns that have any of those gifts. If you have any magical ancestors way back it could happen, but those cases as I said are really rare, so don't be disappointed." Harry said.

"Okay, that's good to know. Just out of interest, are there ways to find something like that out?" She asked.

"There is a test at Gringotts that you can take for a fee of ten galleons. The goblins will then create a family tree for you going back five centuries. Any more centuries and it costs extra. Though it wouldn't tell you anything about abilities." Harry said.

"I'll keep it in mind." She replied.

Their next stop was to stock up on parchment, quills and ink. Harry only used parchment and a quill for his essays and tests. For his notes in class he had cleared with the Professors to use a fountain pen and muggle notebooks. Even Professor Snape after seeing how well-structured Harry's Potions notebook was allowed him to use it in his class. Harry had started to build his own reaction table. He thought it would make learning easier if he had those together and could look them up easily instead of searching in books.

"Huh, why aren't you getting more parchment?" Hermione asked. As she didn't sit close to him in classes normally, she didn't know about his normal working procedures.

"I use muggle notebooks for taking notes in classes. It's much easier than handling mountains of loose parchment. I cleared it with the Professors and they didn't have a problem with it. I just need to use parchment and quill for my essays and tests." Harry explained.

"You should see his notebooks. This guy here is a perfectionist. If he wanted to he could make copies and sell them to others for preparation." Terry said grinning at Harry.

"It's called time management, Terry. If I keep my notes structured I save time looking up things in books during exam preparation. Why do you think I don't stress out at the end of the year?" Harry said.

"As if you didn't know those things anyway. I don't remember you answering any question wrong during our quizzes. Even in the beginning when we just had started reviewing the things we had learned until then." Terry replied.

"Merlin, give me a brain like that!" Neville theatrically exclaimed raising his hands over his head.

The others laughed.

"Hey, you didn't do badly at all at the end of year exams, Neville." Hermione said.

"No, I guess that's true. Coming in eleventh is pretty good." Neville said.

"It definitely is, Neville." Sirius confirmed.

Neville beamed. He didn't get much praise over his grades at home. Even with his good grades his grandmother didn't stop thinking he should be more like his father. Neville had ignored her and his uncle Algie. The last year at Hogwarts with finally making friends had boosted his confidence. Not returning for Christmas and Easter had also helped him. He intended to do it this year as well. Not being belittled during the break was great. And Christmas at Hogwarts was always good.

* * *

When they passed Flourish and Blott's again, they saw that the twit Lockhart was about to make an announcement.

"It is with great pleasure to me to announce that I have accept the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts from this September on." He just said, making Harry stop in his tracks.

"Tell me that isn't true." He said emotionlessly.

"I fear it is. Now I know why he put those ridiculous books on the booklist. Though I think it is definitely shameless to force families to get seven books for one subject." Sirius said.

Some people in the back heard Sirius' words and began whispering. The reporter from the Daily Prophet was also writing the comment down.

"Let's just go, we have better things to do than watching a fool that's in love with himself." Sirius added and led the children away before the twat could spot Harry and try to use him to get more publicity.

* * *

What none of them had noticed was that Rita Skeeter was present as well. Her fine-tuned reporter instinct told her that there could be a good story for her here. Since she had taken to properly research and write her articles truthfully, her loyal readers had multiplied and she got many favourable letters telling her how much her readers now enjoyed her articles. She had heard the comment about Lockhart putting seven of his books on the booklist for Hogwarts. She could vaguely remember Lockhart from Hogwarts. He hadn't been impressive back then. She would have to do some research again. And she would begin with the books. Perhaps there was something in them she could use.

* * *

**Okay, that starts this part of the story off. Till next time.**


	2. Rita's New Coup

**Hi, thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter. I still don't have a better idea for the title, so Champion 2, for now stays. Here is the next one. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Rita's New Coup**

Harry was swimming in the pool at Potter Manor. The weather was still warm and he had taken to swimming an hour each day to train his body more completely than normal working out and running did. Sirius had given him the idea, saying that he and his father had done the same when they had been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It trained stamina and muscles. Tomorrow he would return to Hogwarts. Sirius had helped him to find some good books on Defence Against the Dark Arts in the Potter library which he could read and learn for the subject. They both were sure, after having had a look at the books, that the students wouldn't learn anything from Lockhart.

His trunk was packed in his room; he would only need to put the last things inside tomorrow morning. Hedwig's perch was such an example. His familiar slept in his room and the two regularly had interesting discussions in the evenings.

Over the holidays he had trained his flying and shooting skills at the small Quidditch pitch on the grounds. It was about three quarters the size of a normal one, but for Harry and sometimes some friends that came over, it was perfect to have fun. Harry wondered if Daniel would hold try-outs again. They had a really good team from last year and the only one that had graduated was Pomarel. Perhaps he would do it to see if all the players currently having the starting positions were up to their game. It would make sense to keep them on their toes and to not overlook a talent for experienced players. Sirius had been a huge help with training. He had played chaser as well at Hogwarts and knew some of the tactics Harry's father had come up with really well. On the weekends when Sirius hadn't been on duty with the aurors he had shown Harry some tricks which improved his abilities a lot. Harry was really looking forward to the upcoming school year. Oh how he would make the keepers fall into depression.

That strange house elf Dobby hadn't returned. Harry wasn't sure if there really would be a danger or if somebody thought it would be a good prank trying to keep Harry from Hogwarts. Well, Sirius had warned Madam Bones and Professor Dumbledore, so, in case that something happened, they would be prepared. In regards to his muggle education Harry had passed the tests without problem. He had found he wouldn't even have had to learn as he knew those things by heart already. Well, knowledge was never a bad thing. And he could use the knowledge in the coming years. Harry knew that the upcoming year would probably be the last one where he could easily manage to combine his studies for the muggle subjects with his magical subjects. From next year on he would have additional classes in the electives and that would take up more of his time. If only he could test in a higher class for his muggle studies, but that would mean he would have to do the next level the following year and he didn't know how well that would work. He would see where he stood at the end of this year and perhaps be able to do the test for his O-level.

* * *

Sirius apparated Harry and himself over to Kings Cross Station. They still had half an hour to get Harry onto the train and decided to get a little snack from one of the stands on the platform. A woman was selling pretzels that had been baked with a slice of cheese. Sirius got each of them one and then they walked towards the portal to the platform. When Harry tried to walk through it was a solid wall.

"Ouch," Harry said, rubbing his head. Now he was glad he didn't run.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"The portal is closed," Harry said. "It's a solid wall."

"Hm, let me see," Sirius said. He knocked against the pillar and frowned. "This is not normal. Somebody messed with this thing."

Sirius set up notice-me-not charms and did a few spells to find out what was wrong. He frowned when he came up with nothing he knew.

"Very strange. But there always is one option. Rollo," He called out and the house elf appeared.

"You called, Master Sirius?" Rollo asked.

"Yes. The portal to the platform is closed. I don't recognize the magic that is denying us entrance. Can you just pop us over?" Sirius asked.

"Rollo can, but he can also take down the barrier. It's house elf magic," Rollo said.

"That again is the work of that crazy house elf Dobby then. Please take the magic down, Rollo," Sirius said irritated.

Rollo tipped the wall with his finger and it glowed red.

"Portal is open again, Master Sirius," Rollo said.

"Thank you Rollo. Would you please stay here and watch that the portal isn't closed for anybody else? Just make sure you aren't seen," Sirius asked.

"Rollo will do that. Rollo wishes you a good term at school, Master Harry," Rollo addressed Harry.

"Thank you, Rollo. I'm sure I will," Harry said and then stepped through the portal, Sirius following him.

* * *

The train ride was pretty normal. He shared a compartment with Terry, Neville, Lisa, Hermione and Miranda. His other friends and acquaintances came to visit and say hello, Harry also went and made a few visits, they talked about the holidays, Harry showed his photo album of his trip to Australia, and they played games. When they reached Hogsmeade they followed the older students out of the station towards the carriages that would take them to the castle. Harry looked at the carriage he and his friends wanted to take and saw the creature pulling it.

He walked up to it and petted its neck, which the thestral responded to with a friendly snort and looking at Harry.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Petting the thestral," Harry answered.

"But there is nothing," She said frowning.

"Yes, there is. I can see it as well," Neville said. "It's a creature called a thestral. You can only see them if you have seen death."

"Oh!" Hermione said and was silent after that.

"Who was it for you, Neville?" Harry asked quietly.

"My grandfather. I guess for you it was Quirrell?" Neville said and got a nod from Harry.

They stepped into the carriage and were taken up to the front doors of Hogwarts. They climbed out and walked inside the castle. Soon they all sat at their respective tables in the Great Hall. The sorting started when Professor McGonagall led the new first-years inside. Harry and the other Ravenclaws clapped for each new member of their house. The last one to be sorted was Ginevra Weasley, who obviously was the last of the Weasley siblings to go to Hogwarts. Harry really felt for the Weasleys that they had to pay for five sets of the Lockhart books. Really, that man didn't have any shame. He intended to show him how he felt about him in class.

Curiously when the hat shouted out Gryffindor, the girl seemed to be a bit disappointed looking towards the Ravenclaw table and then walking to the table under the red and gold banner.

After a short speech the feast appeared and drove any thoughts about other things from Harry's mind temporarily. Like last year the feast was splendid and Harry enjoyed the food massively. When after the feast Lockhart was introduced as the new Defence teacher, Harry could only shake his head at the reactions of the majority of the students. Especially the girls seemed to be blended by his looks.

* * *

On the way to Ravenclaw Tower the new second year boys wondered with whom they would room this year. Last year Harry had roomed with a second year as both years had had an odd number of boys. This year if he had counted right, there were six new first-year boys. That would mean that probably one of the second years would get a single room already. They reached the knocker and Terry knocked to get the riddle.

"What is the correct way to approach a hippogriff?" The eagle asked.

"To bow and keep eye-contact until it bows back," Michael answered.

"Correct," The eagle said and the door opened. The boys entered.

"Well, let's see what the rooming lottery got us this year," Anthony said.

"Did I count wrong when I got six new first-year boys?" Harry asked.

"No, I got the same number. Do you think one of us got a single room already then?" Michael asked.

"It would make the most sense. I don't think they would put three of us in one room," Terry said.

"We got more new students than last year. I think there are eight girls in first year," Kevin mentioned.

"Yeah, we got most new firsties. I think Hufflepuff and Gryffindor got fewer students than last year. I only counted eight new lions and nine new badgers. But Slytherin got twelve," Harry stated.

"Hm, that means there are three students more than in our year in total," Terry quickly added the numbers.

The boys walked up the stairs towards the rooms of the second years. In general the younger years were in the rooms closest to the common room, followed by the next year and so on. They passed the rooms for the first years and found their rooms. First were Kevin and Terry who entered their room. Next were Michael and Anthony. Which meant that Harry probably got his own room. Harry walked on and indeed he found a room with only his name on the plaque. He entered and saw that it was smaller than the room he had had with Rick last year but bigger than half of their room. It still held the basic furniture that each room had at the beginning of a year. On the desk was a letter. Harry opened it.

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_as the number of boys in your year is uneven and the number of new first years is even, I had to decide which of you would get a single room this year. Following the class ranking from the end of last year where you ranked first overall, I decided to honour that achievement with choosing you for the single room. The normal rules apply. _

_Wishing you a good start into the new year,_

_Filius Flitwick_

_Head of Ravenclaw House_

Harry smiled. That was a typical thing to do for his head of house. Ravenclaw was all about rewarding academic success. And his end of year exams had placed him firmly in first place before Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. He was sure both would try to best him this year, but he wouldn't let them. He fully intended to stay at the top of his year. It knocked at his door and Terry came in.

"Hey, Harry, wanna come to the common room to play a game of wizard before going to bed?" He asked.

"Sure, just give me five minutes, then I'll be there," Harry said.

"Okay," Terry said and left the room.

Harry opened the window, took Hedwig's perch from his trunk and placed it next to the window. That way his familiar could come in if she wanted. He went down to the common room and played one game of wizard with the other boys before he went up again and started unpacking his trunk. He took his pyjamas and toiletries out before going to the bathroom, which he shared with Tony and Michael and got ready for bed.

* * *

The next morning Harry was up at a quarter to seven and took a shower. Once he was completely dressed he took out his Transfiguration book and started reading. He had half an hour left before Professor Flitwick would give the speech to the new first-years and after that he always handed out the time-tables and achievement lists for the year. At a quarter to eight Harry went down to the common room and saw the first-years listening to Professor Flitwick. Harry sat down on one of the chairs and listened to the end of the speech. The Professor Flitwick started handing out the time-tables and many of the older years had waited to get theirs as well. Contrary to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor who got their time-tables from Professors Sprout and McGonagall at breakfast, Ravenclaw and Slytherin preferred to get them before then.

Harry looked at his schedule. Four hours of each subject with a double lesson of Astronomy on Tuesday evening for the practical part of the subject. He saw that the theoretical part was on Thursday afternoon this year. Today they would first have Defence Against the Dark Arts, then Transfiguration and in the afternoon History of Magic. Not a bad day. Transfiguration and History of Magic were interesting and he could spend the other double period for reading up on material that was useful.

Contrary to last year they had Defence with the Slytherins. Transfiguration was still with Gryffindor and History of Magic also with Gryffindor. Obviously the plans had been changed around a bit. The second years waited inside the Defence Classroom and were stumped to see a huge portrait of Lockhart behind the teacher's desk.

"That's not for real?" Michael asked disbelievingly.

"Well, Michael, our teacher is a self-absorbed idiot. Better you believe it. I recommend getting a good book for classes and ignore the ponce," Harry said.

Terry snorted. "Harry's godfather knew Lockhart at school and said he only barely even scrapped an OWL in his classes," He said.

"Then how in the world did he do the things he writes about in his books?" Kevin asked in a low voice.

"I think he didn't. I read all those books. I wanted to nail him where I can. And I found some interesting facts. The events in _Voyages with Vampires_ and _Break with a Banshee _overlap. Additionally he was just two days out of school when the events of _Year with a Yeti_ happened. I don't know what he did, but I suspect he somehow made it look as if he did the things others did. Otherwise it isn't possible to explain it. And the method he described to transform the Wagga Wagga Werewolf back is laughable. If that worked, many more people would have succeeded with it. No, I'm pretty sure he is a fraud," Harry said.

"Why would he be employed here then?" Michael asked.

"Lack of applicants? I mean Quirrell's fate was not something that would instil faith in the job perspectives," Kevin suggested, which made Harry flinch.

"Ah, sorry, Harry, I didn't think," Kevin apologised.

"It's okay, Kevin, but please don't mention it again," Harry said subdued trying to suppress the images in his mind.

Finally the peacock entered the room. He gave a stupid introduction and then handed out a test to see how thoroughly they had read the books. Harry looked over the test and decided to have some fun. After all, a test that only asked questions about Lockhart?

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour? – _shocking pink_

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? – _learning how to perform a spell properly_

3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? – _deceiving the British wizarding world into believing he could have done the things he says he has done after just scrapping by in his OWLs and NEWTs_

4. How did Gilderoy Lockhart banish the Bandon Banshee? – _he didn't, he was busy running from the vampire_

Thee sides of paper later…

52. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest strength? –_ Does he have any? I know he doesn't have shame for asking all students to buy seven adventure books in a normally important class._

53. Where did Gilderoy Lockhart learn his skills? – _Kwikspell_

54 When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would be the ideal gift for him? – _April fool's day and a large bottle of glitter toothpaste_

Harry was really proud of his answers. He wondered if anybody had really tried to answer the test properly. He quickly made a copy as he wanted to show it around later. The fool in front of the class didn't even notice. Finally he collected the tests and looked over them.

"Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered that my favourite colour is lilac. I said so in Year with a Yeti. And you should read Wandering with Werewolves more closely, I stated there that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magical and non-magical people," Lockhart said while looking through the pack of tests. Then he paled dramatically.

"Five points from Ravenclaw for Mr Potter not taking the test seriously," Lockhart snapped.

All eyes were on Harry now who was just grinning smugly.

"You definitely need to read the books more carefully if you want to pass this class, Mr Potter," Lockhart said. "You can't expect to be able to get through school only relying on your fame."

That sent the class into massive laughter. Lockhart looked at them not understanding why they were all laughing, even the Slytherins.

"That's a good joke, Professor," Draco Malfoy said.

"Oh and why would that definitely necessary piece of advice for Mr Potter be a joke, Mr Malfoy?" Lockhart asked annoyed.

"Because Harry is the best student in our year. And he didn't once rely on his fame. That guy can simply do everything," Sylveena Esmeraude answered instead of Draco.

Harry meanwhile had multiplied his test answers and handed them around while Lockhart was distracted with Sylveena.

"Hm, he is right. You can't have banished the Bandon Banshee and been in Romania to deal with the vampire at the same time," Theodore Nott said reading Harry's answers.

Lockhart turned around, seeing all students looking at copies of Harry's test.

"And it really was shameless to ask for seven books in one subject. I mean think of families like the Weasleys. They have five children at Hogwarts at the moment. How were they able to buy all the books? Do the parents have to go hungry for the next month?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked.

"Does anybody know if the part about the OWL grades is true?" Daphne Greengrass asked.

"It is," Lilian Moon said. "My Mum was in his year in Slytherin and they always mocked him about not being able to do most spells. She said I should better plan for doing self-study in the library."

"I can recommend some books to you, Lilian. My godfather told me the same," Harry called out.

"Thank you, Harry. I will gladly accept that offer. Perhaps we could make it a regular meeting time to study?" Lilian asked winking at him.

"How would I be able to refuse such a pretty girl a request like that?" Harry asked, flirting back.

"Hey, Harry, don't you already have enough girls that swoon over you?" Blaize asked.

"What? I thought you were one of the most desired bachelors of Slytherin for the coming years yourself, Blaize. I didn't think you would be jealous," Harry countered.

"Enough! Twenty points from Ravenclaw and twenty from Slytherin for disrespecting a teacher!" Lockhart bellowed.

"How is it disrespectful to point out the truth?" Terry asked. "Okay, why don't we make this class a big independent Defence Against the Dark Arts study group as we will have to learn things ourselves anyway?" He said, ignoring Lockhart now.

"Not a bad idea. We wouldn't waste as much time then and my father would be highly displeased if I didn't learn anything this year," Draco said.

"I forbid this disrespectful behaviour!" Lockhart shouted. "If you are so sure you know better than me, see how you deal with these creatures."

He pulled the cloth from a cage and released a bunch of pixies. They shot through the room, causing chaos, much to the pleasure of Lockhart. Then he tried to prove his skill and tried a spell.

"_Peskipiksi Pesternomi_."

Sadly the spell failed and the pixies stole Lockhart's wand. The wand went sailing out of the window. Lockhart fled.

"Freeze them!" Harry commanded. "_Immobilus_."

The others followed Harry's example and soon the thirty or so pixies were suspended in the air. Tracy Davis held the cage and the others one by one levitated the pixies back inside.

"He definitely is an idiot. So how are we going to do this and won't we get in trouble?" Daphne asked.

"We will talk with Professors Snape and Flitwick. I'm sure they already know what kind of fraud Lockhart is. I know the locking spell and if we come here before Lockhart does on Mondays we won't have a problem locking him out. We would have to see if he is already in here on Thursdays," Michael said.

"Why don't we just use one of the unused classrooms? We can split the lessons. For example on Monday we read up on defensive spells and on Thursday we practice them. We can also read up on how to deal with dark creatures. And pixies don't count, they're simply pests," Theodore suggested.

"I like Theodore's plan best. There is an unused classroom at the end of the Charms corridor. It's big enough to practice spells and we could place some targets on one side of the room. If we split the work, we will get a lot done," Terry said.

"We should just inform our heads of houses. That way nobody can say they hadn't been informed," Harry said. "And Professor Flitwick wouldn't wonder why there was noise in a classroom that normally isn't used."

"Okay. Then let's see. We still have an hour left until our next classes. Why don't we go to the library and look up books we want to study from?" Padma suggested.

The suggestion was accepted by the others. Madam Pince was massively surprised to see a whole class entering the library.

"What are you all doing here? Don't you have class at the moment?" She asked suspiciously.

"Professor Lockhart fled from the classroom after failing to get control back over a cage of pixies he let loose in the classroom. They stole his wand and threw it out of the window. We were left to deal with them. After we had frozen them and put them back in the cage we decided that considering Professor Lockhart's obvious lack of competence we would be better off if we did self-study, therefore we came here to look for books that can teach us more than our supposed teacher will ever be able to do," Daphne informed her. "I will write my parents about the incompetence of Professor Lockhart. It can't be that we have to resort to self-study in an important subject like Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Then the twenty-one students spread over the library, especially the defence section and looked for books that would help them.

* * *

The rebellion of the second year Ravenclaws and Slytherins soon was talked about over the whole school. The Ravenclaws soon researched if the dates really didn't add up and came to the conclusion that Lockhart really was a fraud. Therefore most Ravenclaws took to self-study. Lockhart had tried to swing things in his favour again, he obviously didn't like being ignored at all, but rumours had the habit to spread all over Hogwarts within a day at most. And if those rumours concerned Harry Potter they were even faster. In the end only some die-hart fangirls kept their allegiance to Lockhart. Harry found it extremely amusing what one class could do. He had written Sirius a letter, describing what had happened and added his test for Sirius to laugh about.

The return letter was full of praise for Harry's prank and the assurance that Sirius fully supported Harry in making a mockery of Lockhart. The next great hit to Lockhart's image was a new article from Rita Skeeter two weeks into the school year.

_Gilderoy Lockhart – Reality or Myth?_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_Gilderoy Lockhart, 30, current Professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile-Award, fighter against the dark arts. Or is he? Overhearing some visitors of Diagon Alley in August when Gilderoy Lockhart had the book signing for his new book 'Magical Me' this reporter overheard auror Sirius Black, who was shopping with his godson, Harry Potter, and some of Mr Potter's friends, saying that Gilderoy Lockhart, who was two years below Mr Black at Hogwarts, was shameless for forcing families to buy seven of his books for his class._

_I also got the understanding that Auror Black doesn't have a high opinion of Mr Lockhart. I was curious and did some research. In the official files of the Ministry of Magic where the OWL and NEWT results of everybody are stored, I found some troubling information. Gilderoy Lockhart barely got A's in all his wanded classes and Potions. He wasn't accepted for other NEWT level classes but Herbology, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. He failed his Ancient Runes NEWT and only had A's in the other classes. How is that man qualified to teach our children?_

_I then decided I needed more information. I read all his books. They are an interesting read and definitely well-written, but some dates don't add up. For example he says he banished the Bandon Banshee in August 1987. But at the same time he says he defeated the vampire in Romania. _

_He says he was in Tibet two days after he graduated from Hogwarts, but how could that be if there is a protocol of his job interview for a position at the Ministry as an Obliviator of the same day? Many things don't add up._

_Therefore I got a few portkeys to travel to the places where Mr Lockhart supposedly did his great deeds. Imagine my surprise when none of the inhabitants of the village that was plagued by the Wagga Wagga Werewolf recognized the photo of Mr Lockhart and described a completely different person who managed to save them. An old warlock in fact. My next stop was Bandon. There some people said it was Mr Lockhart, others firmly stated it was a witch who banished the banshee. A witch with a hare lip, therefore they could remember so well. The experience repeated itself a few more times. The only place I didn't visit was Tibet. I apologize that I didn't have the time to climb up into the mountains. But I think you see the parallels of the events._

_Somebody who wasn't Mr Lockhart did something, yet they never spoke up about it. I managed to locate the witch that banished the banshee after two weeks of searching and found her to not remember doing the deed, even if one of my witnesses swears she was the one. A short trip to St. Mungo's confirmed that she was victim of a memory charm. Could it be that Gilderoy Lockhart was the one to obliviate her? I ask our Ministry to investigate in this matter. Our children at Hogwarts shouldn't be exposed to an incompetent teacher that obviously is praised for doing things that others did in reality._

Seemingly Amelia Bones had the same opinion as Rita Skeeter. She arrived at Hogwarts the afternoon of that day with two aurors and took him with her for questioning. He didn't return for the rest of the week. Defence was taught by Professor Dumbledore for the time being.

* * *

**Okay, I thought getting rid of the fraud early on offered more options for the rest of the year. And I really didnt want to write about that embarassing Valentine's Day. Till next time.**


End file.
